Submission Guidelines

JMS Books LLC is a small electronic press publishing LGBTQ+ erotic romance, romance, and young adult romance.

We are always open to adult LGBTQ+ romance and erotic romance stories from 12,000 words and up. If your story doesn't fit into one of our sub calls, submit it anyway!

We do not pay advances. Authors earn 50% royalties on all electronic and print sales from our website and distributors. Royalties are paid quarterly no later than 30 days after the end of the quarter.

Special Submissions Calls:


      2023 Submission Calls
      All submissions must be adult LGBTQ+ romances, any heat level, any subgenre, over 12,000 words in length. More info on each call can be found here.

      Seasonal Stories
    • Halloween -- Deadline: August 31, 2024
    • Thanksgiving -- Deadline: September 30, 2024
    • Christmas/Hanukkah -- Deadline: October 31, 2024
    • New Year's -- Deadline: October 31, 2024
    • Valentine's Day 2025 -- Deadline: December 31, 2024

    Other Subs Calls
  • With the Band -- Deadline: January 31, 2024
  • Silver Foxes or Vixens -- Deadline: February 29, 2024
  • Single Parents -- Deadline: March 31, 2024
  • The Color of Love -- Deadline: April 30, 2024
  • Friends to Lovers -- Deadline: May 31, 2024
  • Summer Loving -- Deadline: June 30, 2024


Publishing With Us:

      We are a non-subsidiary, non-vanity press. We contract for exclusive electronic and print rights.

      ALL stories are published in e-book format.

      Stories between 40,000 and 60,000 words are eligible to be published in paperback if they sell 50 electronic copies within six months of release. Print publication is not guaranteed.

      Any story over 60,000 words will be released in paperback and e-book formats. All print books are published and distributed through Amazon.

      We will consider previously published stories on a case-by-case basis. If your submission has been published previously, including self-published, please state the previous publisher and release date, as well as the date rights reverted back to you, in your submission cover letter. However, we are not taking currently self-published titles at this time. If your book is already available on Amazon, there isn't much more we could do to boost your sales.

      If you have multiple stories previously published with another M/M publisher, email us at submissions@jms-books.com introducing yourself and listing the titles you'd like us to consider republishing. Be sure to mention if you want to re-edit the books or use the original cover (if you have the rights to it). You don't need to go through the whole submission process. We'll try our best to get your titles back out ASAP.

      All books are assigned an ISBN, an editor, and cover art. Before you submit, make sure your story is well-written, free of errors, and checked for grammar. Submissions with extensive problems, including those of plot and character, will not be accepted.

      Authors will be asked to provide input on cover art, and all attempts are made to create a cover that the author likes. If your book is previously published AND you have the rights to reuse the cover, we will consider using it if we accept your story for publication.



What We Accept:

      JMS Books LLC accepts LGBTQ+ erotic romance, romance, and young adult romance. We do not take heterosexual romance, non-romance, or purely erotic stories. Please do not use the word "sex" in your title.

      Adult stories must be between 12,000 and 130,000 words in length. Stories under 12,000 words are only accepted for special submission calls.

      NOTE: We don't take single short stories from new authors because, quite frankly, they are priced too low for you to earn anything on them. But if you have 5 or more short stories between 5,000 and 12,000 words in length, we would be happy to review them as one submission (even if they are ultimately released singly).

      Young adult stories must be between 20,000 and 130,000 words in length.

      Please realize the large majority of our audience are women. This means we are looking for M/M romance and erotic romance, and not merely gay fiction. If you don't understand those terms, research the genres before submitting your story to us to make sure we are the right publisher for you.

      All submissions must contain a romantic element as the major focus of the story. Erotic content must be romantic in nature.


What Sells Best For Us:

      Many authors ask what works for us, and we turn away a lot of well-written stories that aren't right for our audience. A good rule of thumb is to look over our quarterly bestseller list to see what our readers want when deciding if we're the right publisher for you.

      Contemporary M/M romance and erotic romance is always a big hit with our readers, any heat level or rating. Specific themes include alpha/omega, best friends, partners in love, older couples, fathers or men with children, sports players, and established couples. These stories leave the reader with the satisfaction that two men have fallen in love and will forge a life together once the book has ended.

      Contemporary F/F sweet romance also appeals to our readers. They like stories of strong women falling in love with best friends or other women who come to their rescue, and who stand by them in the face of adversity. The F/F stories that work for us aren't necessarily heavily erotic; rather, they leave the reader with a happy feeling that everything will work out right in the end.

      Another pairing that our readers like is M/M/F bisexual menage. These stories work best when told from the woman's point of view and ensure all three lovers are equal participants in the relationship. The initials are paired M/M/F for a reason, and the two men must love each other as well as the woman who loves them both.



What We Don't Accept:

      • Anthologies
      • Bestiality
      • Blogs recreated as books
      • Erotica without a romantic subplot ("stroke stories" or "PWP")
      • Excerpts from longer novels
      • Extreme BDSM or sexual fetishes (degradation, snuff, watersports, etc)
      • F/F/M menage
      • General Fiction
      • Heterosexual erotic romance or romance
      • Incest
      • Literary Fiction
      • Memoirs (real or fictionalized)
      • Nonfiction
      • Pedophilia or underage sex
      • Poetry
      • Rape or violent or nonconsensual sex
      • Stories without romance
      • Taboo themes

    Any third-party quotes must be approved by JMS Books LLC and may be removed prior to publication if infringement is suspected. Song lyrics are prohibited and must be removed prior to submission (unless written by the author).

    For young adult submissions, visit Queerteen Press for detailed guidelines.



Submission Policy:

      Electronic unsolicited submissions are accepted at any time.

      We don't accept multiple submissions (more than one story by the same author at the same time) or simultaneous submissions (the same story sent to several publishers at the same time). Such submissions will be immediately rejected.

      If we discover your submission was sent to other publishers in addition to us, or that it was previously published and you didn't disclose the information in your submission, we will rescind any extended offers and no longer consider it for publication.

      Submissions under 40,000 words must include:
        • IN THE EMAIL:
          • Your legal name and pen name, if applicable
          • The title of your story (include series information, if applicable)
          • Your writing credentials, if any
          • Word Count of total book or story (NOT page count)
          • Genre(s)
        • BLURB (150-250 words)
        • DETAILED STORY SUMMARY (briefly describe your story in 1-2 pages)
        • FULL MANUSCRIPT

      Submissions over 40,000 words must include:
        • IN THE EMAIL:
          • Your legal name and pen name, if applicable
          • The title of your story (include series information, if applicable)
          • Your writing credentials, if any
          • Word Count of total book or story (NOT page count)
          • Genre(s)
        • BLURB (150-250 words)
        • CHAPTER BY CHAPTER SYNOPSIS (briefly describe what happens in each chapter)
        • FULL MANUSCRIPT

      NOTE: You don't have to send in both the summary and the synopsis. Depending on the length of your story, just send one or the other.

      The CHAPTER BY CHAPTER SYNOPSIS must provide a list of each chapter in your story and succinctly describe each in a paragraph or less. It will usually be 2-3 pages long and include all the main characters and all plot points as well as the climax and conclusion.DO NOT send in a narrative story summary or long blurb and expect that to suffice. You can find a great blog post on writing such a synopsis here.

      If you do not send a complete synopsis, we will NOT consider your story for publication. Many authors ask why we need the synopsis, but it helps us to turn around your story in a short amount of time -- our response time is weeks faster than any other publisher, and a well-written synopsis makes this possible.

      The ending of the story MUST be disclosed in the story summary and synopsis, along with any plot or character twists, sexual encounters, and anything that might be considered controversial or questionable. If there is any content in your story that may be offensive (excessive violence or sex, BDSM, etc.), it must also be mentioned.

      Incomplete or incorrect submissions will be rejected without being read.



Formatting Your Submission:

      All attachments must be in a Microsoft Word compatible format (RTF preferred, but we will also read DOC and DOCX). All others will be rejected unread.

      Format your submission as follows:
        • 12 pt Arial font
        • First line of each paragraph indented
        • Single spaced
        • No extra lines between paragraphs
        • Scene breaks should be four asterisks centered on its own line
        • Title centered on first line
        • Author centered byline on the second line
        • Start chapters with the word "Chapter" followed by the number (NOT WRITTEN OUT)
        • If chapters have headings, use a colon to separate them from the number
        • NEVER, EVER USE ALL CAPS! Use Title Case instead
        • Use italics to indicate emphasis, thoughts, texts/chatspeak, or foreign words
        • No underlining
        • No extra formatting, special or colored fonts, or special characters
        • Use smart quotes, ellipses, and em dashes where needed

      FORMATTING EXAMPLE:

      My Story Title
      By My Name
      Chapter 1: My First Chapter
           Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.
      * * * *
           Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.




To Submit Your Story:

      Send to submissions@jms-books.com with the subject: "SUBMISSION: Title of Story by Author's Name."

      We acknowledge receipt of your submission in 24 hours and give you a response in less than one week. Usually our response time is less than that.

      We DO NOT comment on rejected manuscripts.

      All stories accepted for publication require a contract which will be sent and signed electronically. Our contracts are for an initial period of 2 years, after which they auto-renew. A sample contract is available upon request, and will be sent to you with the acceptance letter.

      All U.S. citizens MUST provide us with a completed W-9 upon contract execution.

      Our submissions policy and guidelines are subject to change without notice.

      J.M. Snyder, Owner
      JMS Books LLC
      Updated October 1, 2017